From: Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
Subject: [hgayosso@gnu.org: Re: TheBrain.com Receives Patent]
To: -email is unavailable-
Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2001 10:13:59 -0700 (MST)
Reply-to: -email is unavailable-

From: Hugo Gayosso <hgayosso@gnu.org>
Subject: Re: TheBrain.com Receives Patent
To: Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 23:15:27 -0500 (EST)
Organization: GNU Project

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I am attaching it in text format.

The URL from the USPTO is:

http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/n
etahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1='6,031,537'.WKU.&OS=PN/6,031,537&RS=PN/6,031
,537


The patent number is: 6,031,537


On 14-Mar-2000 Richard Stallman wrote:

> Could you get a copy of that patent and mail it to me?
> I think you can find it on http://www.ibm.com/patents/,
> or perhaps by writing to TheBrain.com.

Greetings,
- - -----------------------
Hugo Gayosso

Support the "Free Software", support The GNU Project

http://hgayosso.linuxbox.com

http://www.gnu.org

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                                  [Image]
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 United States Patent                                            6,031,537
 Hugh                                                    February 29, 2000
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Method and apparatus for displaying a thought network from a thought's
perspective

                                  Abstract

A method and apparatus for organizing and processing pieces of interrelated
information (or "thoughts") is used with a digital computer. The invention
employs a graphical user interface to facilitate user interaction with
highly flexible, associative "matrices" that enable users conveniently to
organize digitally-stored thoughts and their network of interrelationships.
Each of the thoughts may be affiliated with one or more application
programs, such as a word processing or spreadsheet utility, or an Internet
browser. Users are able conveniently to select a current thought along with
any applications or content associated with that thought by interacting with
the graphical representation. That representation is automatically
reoriented about the selected thought, and is revised to reflect only those
thoughts having predetermined relations to that current thought. Users can
easily modify the matrix by interactively redefining relations between
thoughts. Further aspects of the invention include techniques permitting
automated generation of thought matrices, delayed loading to facilitate
navigation amongst thoughts without undue delay due to bandwidth
constraints, and matrix division and linking to allow optimal data structure
flexibility. Finally, the present invention is interoperable with computer
networks including the Internet, and offers an intuitive scalable
methodology for the navigation and management of essentially immeasurable
information resources and knowledge bases that transcends the limitations
inherent in traditional hierarchical approaches.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Inventors: Hugh; Harlan M. (Los Angeles, CA)
 Assignee:  Natrificial LLC (Santa Monica, CA)
 Appl. No.: 892548
 Filed:     July 14, 1997

 U.S. Class:                                              345/357; 345/349
 Intern'l Class:                                                G06F 003/00
 Field of Search:                                      345/326-358,145,146
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      References Cited [Referenced By]
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            U.S. Patent Documents
 4974173            Nov., 1990        Stefik et al.               345/331.
 5220657            Jun., 1993        Bly et al.                  345/329.
 5459831            Oct., 1995        Brewer et al.               345/145.
 5506937            Apr., 1996        Ford et al.                  395/12.
 5555354            Sep., 1996        Strasnick et al.            345/355.
                          Foreign Patent Documents

1. 273 435          Jul., 1988        EP                                 .
2. 325 777          Aug., 1989        EP                                 .

 44 40598           May., 1996        DE                                 .

                              Other References

 Halasz et al., "NoteCards in a Nutshell", ACM, pp. 45-52, 1987.
 Foss, "Tools for Reading and Browsing Hypertext", Information
 Processing & Management, vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 407-418, 1989.
 Carr et al., "Open Information Services", Computer Networks and
 ISDN Systems, vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 1027-1036, May 1996.
 Kent, R.E., et al: "Creating a Web Analysis and Visualization
 Environment" Computer Networks and ISDN Systems, vol. 1, No. 28,
 Dec. 1995, p. 109-117, XP004001216.
 Olsen, K.A., et al: "Visualization of a Document Collection: The
 Vibe System" Information Processing and Management (Incorporating
 Information Technology), vol. 29, No. 1, Jan. 1, 1993, pp. 69-81,
 XP000574984.

Primary Examiner: Breene; John E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP, Chou; Chien-Wei
(Chris), Hamrick; Claude A.S.
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Parent Case Text
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.
08/747,092, filed Nov. 7, 1996, now pending.
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Claims
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer, said
information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method comprising
the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display wherein the second
thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought on the display,
wherein indicia of those thoughts having defined relations with the second
thought will be displayed and are rearranged upon the selection of said new
central thought in a manner that graphically reflects the relationship
between said thoughts and said new central thought.

2. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer, said
information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method comprising
the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display,
the current central thought being associated with said information;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought;

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display;

loading the contents of said central thought; and

viewing, editing or processing said information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said loading step is performed
automatically.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said loading step is delayed for a
predetermined period of time so that a user may optionally navigate to
another thought in a plex prior to the loading of the contents of said
central thought and wherein said loading step is not performed with respect
to said central thought in the event that said user navigates to another
thought prior to the expiration of said predetermined period of time.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the user is appraised by a visual display
of the extent to which said predetermined time has elapsed.

6. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer, said
information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method comprising
the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought;

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display; and

creating a file that contains the full location of the computer on which
said network is initially defined, said file configured so that said thought
documents organized by said network are subsequently accessible from a
remote computer having access to the information organized by said network.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

identifying at least one thought document that does not reside in the memory
or storage of a local computer;

copying selected ones of said identified thought documents to a local
computer; and

changing the recorded location of said copied thought documents to reflect
the new local location of said documents.

8. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer, said
information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method comprising
the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts, and further comprises the step of setting sharing characteristics
of at least one thought document;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display.

9. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer, said
information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method comprising
the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts, wherein said network relationships may be forgotten;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said network relationships may be
forgotten automatically in accordance with particular usage statistics.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the memory of said network relationships
is of more than one type, and wherein the user may selectively display the
relationships remembered by one or more of said memory types.

12. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts and
adding at least one thought to said network by dragging with a pointing
device from a thought in a plex to a window associated with said thought
document, wherein each thought may be related to at least one other of said
thoughts, and wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to
one of the other thoughts;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display wherein the second
thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display.

13. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer said
information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method comprising
the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts, and wherein at least one thought contains more than one version of
a single document and wherein a user may select from among these multiple
versions of said thought when said user interactively designates said
current thought or thereafter;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display.

14. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought maybe related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts:

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display in which a Train of Thought is highlighted or
otherwise made visible or differentiated from the other graphical elements
comprising the graphical representation of said matrix.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein arrows are further used to indicate the
order of said Train of Thought.

16. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts, and wherein said matrix references a second matrix;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein an administrator may independently
assign access privileges to each of said matrices.

18. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts, and wherein a user can divide a single matrix into one or more
individual matrices;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display.

19. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts, and further comprising automatically generating a matrix based
upon a hierarchical file management structure, wherein said generated matrix
may subsequently be modified to incorporate nonhierarchical associations
among thoughts;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought;

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display.

20. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts, and further comprising automatically generating a matrix based
upon a preexisting self-referencing network;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said generated matrix may subsequently
be modified to incorporate nonhierarchical associations among thoughts.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein said self-referencing network comprises
the Internet.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein said self-referencing network comprises
a hypertext document.

24. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts and is
performed, in whole or in part, automatically in response to a user's serial
selection of files or Internet browsing, wherein each thought may be related
to at least one other of said thoughts, and wherein at least one of the
thoughts is directly related to one of the other thoughts;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display.

25. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts and is
performed, in whole or in part, automatically based upon the results of a
database search, wherein each thought may be related to at least one other
of said thoughts, and wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly
related to one of the other thoughts;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on said display, the second
thought having a direct relation to the first thought; and

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said database represents an index of
content on the Internet.

27. The method of claim 20 wherein the step of automatically generating is
performed in accordance with a web crawling technique and in which the
self-referencing network comprises at least one site on the World Wide Web.

28. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought;

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display; and

wherein at least one file having information associated with a thought
resides remotely on a server device, and wherein said user accesses said
matrix from a client device.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising the steps of:

based upon the current thought and the defined matrix relationships,
identifying all thoughts that could possibly be selected as a new central
thought from a current plex, and all thoughts that would join said new
central thought in the resulting new plex upon the selection of any one of
said thoughts;

identifying the thoughts for which the desired information is presently
stored at the client location; and

sending from the server only that data associated with each thought that
could join the plex upon the selection of a new central thought that is not
already stored at the client location.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the results of at least one of said
steps of identifying are stored in a ThoughtList.

31. The method of claim 3 wherein files containing said viewed, edited, or
processed information are saved automatically without user interaction upon
the deactivation of their associated thought.

32. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought;

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display; and

maintaining a list of parentless thoughts so that it is unnecessary to
ensure that each thought has a relationship with at least one other thought.

33. The method of claim 9 wherein all thoughts childward of a first
forgotten thought and not having parent relations to any thought other than
to a forgotten thought are themselves automatically forgotten.

34. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts, and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
each thought may be related to at least one other of said thoughts, and
wherein at least one of the thoughts is directly related to one of the other
thoughts;

displaying an indicium of a first thought as a central thought on a display;

displaying an indicium of a second thought on the display, wherein the
second thought having a direct relation to the first thought;

selecting said second thought to be a new central thought, whereby indicia
of those thoughts having defined relations with the second thought will be
displayed on the display; and

enabling the entry of notes relating to at least one thought, wherein said
notes are automatically loaded and saved upon the activation and
deactivation of the thought to which said notes correspond.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein said notes are entered by a word
processor that links at least one OLE or similar object.

36. A method for organizing and processing information using a computer,
said information comprising a plurality of thoughts and said method
comprising the steps of:

defining a matrix comprising the plurality of thoughts and further
comprising a plurality of network relationships among the thoughts, wherein
at least one of said thoughts is related to one of the other thoughts;

displaying a graphical representation of the matrix, the graphical
representation comprising a plurality of display icons corresponding to the
thoughts, and further comprising a plurality of connecting lines
corresponding to the relationships among the thoughts;

receiving a communication from an application program;

automatically identifying at least one command within said communication,
said command a request to make a particular thought the current thought; and

viewing, editing or processing information associated with said current
thought.
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Description
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to methods and apparatus for organizing and
processing information, and more particularly, to computer-based graphical
user interface-driven methods and apparatus for associative organization and
processing of interrelated pieces of information, hereinafter referred to as
"thoughts."

BACKGROUND

The general-purpose digital computer is one of the most powerful and
remarkable information processing tools ever invented. Indeed, the advent of
the digital computer, and the proliferation of a global digital information
network known as the Internet, has thrust the world headlong into what is
now recognized by many analysts as an "information era" and an "information
economy," in which the ability to access and process information in an
effective manner is one of the most important forms of economic power.

The potential impact of the digital computer and the Internet on information
distribution and processing is undeniably revolutionary. Yet, conventional
software environments are generally organized around metaphors and
principles from earlier eras. Text-based operating systems like Microsoft
.RTM. DOS essentially treat the computer as a giant filing cabinet
containing documents and applications. A strictly hierarchical file
directory provides a rigid, tree-like structure for this digital file
cabinet. Individual documents are the "leaves" of this tree hierarchy. The
directory structure generally does not include or express relationships
between leaves, and users generally access documents and applications
individually, using the directory structure. Even the now ubiquitous
graphical "desktop" computing environment, popularized for personal
computers by the Apple Macintosh.RTM. and Microsoft Windows.RTM. operating
systems, also simulates a traditional office environment. Individual
documents and applications, represented by graphical icons, are displayed on
the user's screen, to be accessed one-at-a-time. Once again, a strictly
hierarchical, tree-like directory structure is imposed to organize the
contents of the desktop.

Although the desktop and file cabinet metaphors have been commercially
successful, the limitations and drawbacks of these traditional metaphors
become clear when one considers the strikingly different way in which the
world's other powerful information processing machine--the human
brain--organizes information. Instead of being confined and limited to
strictly hierarchical file directory structures, the human brain is thought
to interconnect numerous pieces of information through flexible,
non-hierarchical, associative networks. As those of skill and experience in
the art are aware, it is often clumsy for users of traditional, prior art
operating system interfaces to process multiple pieces of information if
these pieces are contextually related in some way, but are stored in
separate files and/or are associated with different application programs.
Too often, the prior art of organizing information lead users to "misplace"
information amongst hierarchical categories which often lose their relevance
soon after the user creates them. Intended to assist users, traditional
hierarchical structures and "desktop" metaphors compel users to organize
their thought processes around their computer software, instead of the
reverse. The inadequacy of "real-world," hierarchical metaphors for
information management was recognized prior to the advent of the computer,
but until now has not been successfully remedied.

The recent deluge of digital information bombarding everyday computer users
from the Internet only heightens the need for a unified, simple information
management method which works in concert with natural thought processes.
Additionally, users' ready enthusiasm for the World Wide Web graphical
"hypertext" component of the Internet demonstrates the appeal of
associative, nonlinear data structures, in contrast to the limiting
structure of computerized desktop metaphors. And yet, prior art web browsers
and operating systems awkwardly compel users to navigate the associative,
non-dimensional structure of the World Wide Web using linear, or at best
hierarchical user interfaces.

What is desired is an effective methodology for organizing and processing
pieces of interrelated information (or "thoughts") using a digital computer.
The methodology should support flexible, associative networks (or
"matrices") of digital thoughts, and not be limited to strict, tree
hierarchies as are conventional, prior art technologies. A related goal is
to create an intuitive and accessible scheme for graphically representing
networks of thoughts, providing users with access to diverse types of
information in a manner that maximizes access speed but minimizes
navigational confusion. Finally, that methodology should be optimized to
enable users to seamlessly manage, navigate, and share such matrices
consisting of files and content stored both locally on digital information
devices, as well as remotely via digital telecommunications networks such as
local area networks, wide area networks, and public networks such as the
Internet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention enables users to organize information on a digital
computer in a flexible, associative manner, akin to the way in which
information is organized by the human mind. Accordingly, the present
invention utilizes highly flexible, associative matrices to organize and
represent digitally-stored thoughts. A matrix specifies a plurality of
thoughts, as well as network relationships among the thoughts. Because the
matrix structure is flexible, each thought may be connected to a plurality
of related thoughts. A graphical representation of a portion of the matrix
is displayed, including a plurality of user-selectable indicia (such as an
icon) corresponding to the thoughts, and in some embodiments, a plurality of
connecting lines corresponding to the relationships among the thoughts. Each
of the thoughts may be associated with at least one thought document, which
itself is associated with a software application program. Users are able to
select a current thought conveniently by interacting with the graphical
representation, and the current thought is processed by automatically
invoking the application program associated with the current thought
document in a transparent manner. Upon the selection of a new current
thought, the graphical representation of the displayed portion of the matrix
(the "plex") is revised to reflect the new current thought, all thoughts
having predetermined relations to that current thought, and the relations
therebetween. Users can modify the matrix by interactively redrawing the
connecting lines between thoughts, and relationships within the matrix are
then redefined accordingly. Further aspects of the invention include
techniques permitting automated generation of thought matrices, delayed
thought loading to facilitate navigation through a plex without undue delay
due to bandwidth constraints, and matrix division and linking to allow
optimal data structure flexibility. Finally, the present invention is
interoperable with digital communications networks including the Internet,
and offers an intuitive methodology for the navigation and management of
essentially immeasurable information resources that transcends the
limitations inherent in traditional hierarchical-based approaches.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the basic architecture of a computer system for use in
implementing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of the data architecture for thoughts, in
accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical user interface screen display, in accordance
with an aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates the graphical user interface of FIG. 3, reflecting the
selection of a new current thought by a user.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing the process for creating and relating
thoughts in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing the process for severing relationships
between thoughts in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a graphical user interface screen display, in accordance
with another aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a graphical user interface screen display, in accordance
with another aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a graphical user interface screen display, in accordance
with another aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 10 discloses an algorithm which may be implemented in an embodiment of
the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates a graphical user interface screen display, in accordance
with another aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates a graphical user interface screen display, in accordance
with another aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates a graphical user interface screen display, in accordance
with another aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 14 illustrates one embodiment of a dialog window for editing thought
fields.

FIG. 15 illustrates one embodiment of a calendar window in conjunction with
a hypothetical plex.

FIG. 16 illustrates the data architecture of one embodiment of the ".brn"
(modified headcase) file of the present invention.

FIG. 17 sets forth algorithms for implementing forgetting and remembering
operations that are used with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 depicts five interrelated screen displays of one embodiment of the
present invention.

FIG. 19 illustrates a hypothetical screen display of an information storage
arrangement having non-differentiated links.

FIG. 20 illustrates the screen display that would result upon the selection
of an element from the hypothetical screen display of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 illustrates an alternative graphical user interface screen display,
in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 illustrates a flow chart describing one method for implementing the
delayed loading feature of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 illustrates a method for drawing a plex having distant thoughts.

FIG. 24 illustrates an alternative algorithm for searching thoughts that may
be implemented in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 illustrates a graphical user interface screen.

NOTATION AND NOMENCLATURE

The detailed descriptions which follow are presented largely in terms of
display images, algorithms, and symbolic representations of operations of
data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and
representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing
arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others
skilled in the art.

An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self consistent
sequence of steps leading to a desired result. These steps are those
requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not
necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic
signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and
otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient at times, principally for
reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values,
elements, symbols, characters, images, terms, numbers, or the like. It
should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to
be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely
convenient labels applied to these quantities.

In the present case, the operations are machine operations performed in
conjunction with a human operator. Useful machines for performing the
operations of the present invention include general purpose digital
computers or other similar devices. In all cases, there should be borne in
mind the distinction between the method operations of operating a computer
and the method of computation itself. The present invention relates to
method steps for operating a computer and processing electrical or other
physical signals to generate other desired physical signals.

The present invention also relates to apparatus for performing these
operations. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required
purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively
activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. The
algorithms, methods and apparatus presented herein are not inherently
related to any particular computer. In particular, various general purpose
machines may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein,
or it may prove more convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to
perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of
these machines will appear from the description given below.

One aspect of the present invention relates to the organization, storage,
and retrieval of information with highly-flexible associative data
structures, and it is therefore convenient to explain the disclosed
processes by analogy to processes commonly associated with human cognition.
For example, as explained above, items of information that are processed in
accordance with the present invention are referred to by the label
"thoughts," and designations such as "forgetting" are used metaphorically to
refer to functions or relations relating to the associative data structure
of the present invention. These analogies are employed merely to facilitate
explanation of the present disclosure. Based on everyday assumptions
regarding the way humans think, the distinctions between the presently
disclosed computer-implemented invention and actual human cognitive
operations must not be overlooked. The interrelations among these thoughts
are sometimes similarly defined by reference to genealogically-derived terms
such as "parent" and "child" thoughts. In the spirit of the present
invention, the assignment of these terms is based largely on human
intuition, as they reflect relations between thoughts that may easily be
grasped by users not proficient with the use of non-traditional information
storage schemes. The terms are merely labels that serve to enhance the
clarity of the disclosure. They should not be construed as restricting the
flexibility of the described information storage structure. Finally, the
term "the Brain" is used in the following disclosure as a label to refer to
the methods or apparatus of the present invention. "The Brain" is a
trademark of the assignee of this patent application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

General System Architecture

FIG. 1 depicts the general architecture of a digital computer system 90 for
practicing the present invention. Processor 100 is a standard digital
computer microprocessor, such as a CPU of the Intel x86 series. Processor
100 runs system software 120 (such as Microsoft Windows.RTM., Mac OS.RTM. or
another graphical operating system for personal computers), which is stored
on storage unit 110, e.g., a standard internal fixed disk drive. "Brain"
software 130, also stored on storage unit 110, includes computer program
code for performing the tasks and steps described below, including the
digital representation of matrices, the display of graphical representations
of such matrices, and the processing of such matrices in accordance with the
principles of the present invention. Display output, including the visual
graphical user interface ("GUI") discussed below, is transmitted from
processor 100 to an output device such as a video monitor 140 for display to
users. Users utilize input devices such as standard personal computer
keyboard 150, cursor control device 160 (e.g., a mouse or trackball),
touch-screen sensors on the monitor display, virtual reality gloves, voice
input, or similar techniques to enter the GUI input commands discussed
below, which are then transmitted to processor 100. Software for
implementing the Brain may be stored in a variety of locations and in a
variety of mediums, including without limitation, RAM, data storage 111, a
network server, a fixed or portable hard disk drive, an optical disk, or a
floppy disk.

Internal Implementation of a Thought

In one embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 2, a
plurality of interrelated thoughts collectively make up a "thought." Each
such thought (i.e., a piece of information, such as a collection of
spreadsheet data) is represented internally as comprising various elements,
including properties and relationships. Properties can include, as in the
example of thought 200: number 205, name 210, key words 215, document 220,
usage statistics 225, priority 230, flags 235, category 240. Relationships
can include currently linked thoughts 245 and past linked thoughts 250.
Except for document 220, all of the data for all thoughts is stored in a set
of files 255 (which we designate "the headcase" in one embodiment), which is
invisible to the user and is transparently loaded to RAM and saved to data
storage 111 as the user works.

Number 205. Each thought has a unique number which, in some embodiments of
the present invention, is invisible to the user but is used internally, by
other thoughts or lists, to reference the thought. References to each
thought thus occupy only a small amount of internal storage, and changes to
a thought's user-specified name do not affect internal references.

Name 210. The "name" of a thought is intended to be a brief, textual
description of that thought, written by the user. One purpose of a name is
to enable users to identify the associated thought in a convenient manner.

Key Words 215. The "key words" of a thought are a list of descriptive terms
inputted by the user, which list may be interactively searched using the
search methods described in more detail below (see "Searching").

Document 220. Each thought includes an associated "document," which stores
all of the specific content for that thought, such as word processing data
or spreadsheet data. Each such document is stored internally in its own file
in data storage 111 or separately stored in mass storage devices accessible
by the computer system.

In some embodiments of the invention, the document name is based on the
associated thought's number. In other embodiments, the document name may be
based on the name of the associated thought. More particularly, the document
name can be the same as the thought name, unless a preexisting file with the
identical name already exists. If such a file already exists, the method of
the present invention can name the location by appending a number to the
name. For some embodiments of the Brain used with operating systems that use
filename extensions, the extension for the location may be determined by the
thought type in accordance with common practices in the art, for example,
".tht" for thought editor documents, and ".htm" for web pages.

When the name of a thought is changed, the location of the document it
references is not changed. This allows the user to use the location to share
the file with users who are not using the method of the present invention
and therefore must access these files through traditional operating system
methods. Of course, a user may edit the location of a document by the same
methods used to edit all other thought properties. If the user makes the
location point to a nonexistent or unsupported file, the Brain will be
unable to edit the document. The referenced file may be either locally or
remotely located.

Referenced files may also be used as sources for Microsoft Windows.RTM. drag
and drop operations known in the art and extensively documented in
Windows.RTM. Software Development Kits. These operations are capable of
exchanging file locations between programs for the purpose of making
references, embedding, copying, and pasting. By implementing these
operations into the Brain, a user can use the Brain as a drop source. A file
stored in the Brain may thereby easily be copied to a Windows Explorer.RTM.
folder or any other application supporting file drag and drop.

As discussed below, the user need not consciously manage these files.
Instead, accessing a thought automatically provides the user with a
seamless, transparent way of accessing the document contents, calendar
information, notes and other information associated with thought, along with
the appropriate application program(s) or utility(ies) for processing those
contents.

Usage Statistics 225. "Usage statistics" may be generated and stored for
each thought as the user works on that thought, as discussed in greater
detail below in the "Additional Features" section.

Priority 230. A priority number set by the user indicates the relative
importance of a particular thought. The priority is normally manually set by
the user, but can be calculated based upon the usage statistics and the
relationships at the user's request. The priority can then be used to filter
thoughts when searching or creating thought lists.

Flags 235. Flags provide a mechanism for designating the state of each
thought. In one embodiment of the invention, each flag can be in one of
three states: on, off, or default. When a flag is in default, the thought
value is determined by the category of thought (see Category, below). Flags
can be user-defined, or may be automatically provided by the system. One
example of a system flag is one that states whether a thought is part of
long term memory.

Category 240. A thought's "category" is a number which designates a thought
to be of a specific category. Thought categories are defined and named by
the user. Each category specifies that thoughts of that category will have
certain attributes or "fields," as well as certain default flag values (see
the discussion of "flags" above). An example of a category might be
"Person," in which case an example field might be "City of Residence." The
use of fields to perform indexed searching is discussed in further detail
below, in the "Processing Thoughts" section. Category definitions may be
stored separately, as templates.

Relationships Between Thoughts 245. In one embodiment of the invention, at
least three types of relationships are possible among thoughts: child,
parent, and jump. Each thought includes a separate list for each type of
relationship. The utility of enabling at least three types of links among
thoughts is discussed more fully below. Each such relationship list stores a
list of the other thoughts (identified by number) that are related to the
instant thought by the instant type of relationship. The relationship lists
are used to generate and navigate graphical representations of the matrix,
as described in detail below, and are otherwise invisible to the user.

Past Relationships 250. In some embodiments of the invention, there is
another set of at least three lists: for child, parent, and jump
relationships, respectively, which archive information about those
relationships which have been severed or "forgotten" but which may be
reattached or remembered upon request by the user. Essentially, this
provides a long term memory facility that allows users to recall previous
relationships when desired, without cluttering the current display with
non-current data, as discussed below.

Graphically Representing and Navigating a Matrix

The present invention simultaneously enhances navigational efficiency
through its strategic graphical arrangement of display icons representing
thoughts. The placement of the thoughts reflects second-level relations that
may not be as easily communicated by techniques employing arbitrary thought
placement. FIG. 3 illustrates a typical, graphical representation ("plex
300") of a matrix of related thoughts which will be displayed on the monitor
140, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 21
illustrates an example of an on-screen display of an alternative embodiment
of the present invention, in which the plex is displayed in the
upper-right-hand section of the screen, the thought document is on the
left-hand portion of the screen, and properties, list manager, and notes
windows are on the lower right section of the screen.

Thought Types and Interrelation. In the example of FIG. 3, central thought
310 labelled "Natrificial" is displayed in the center of the plex,
preferably surrounded by a circle, a dashed rectangle, and a rotating or
blinking graphic that visually draws attention to the central thought.
Thoughts that are directly related to the central thought 310 are
represented in the plex 300 by display icons connected by lines to the
central thought. In one embodiment of the present invention, multiple
categories or types of thought relationships can be specified, in the
interests of providing users maximum organizational flexibility and clarity.
Specifically, the present invention allows a plurality of parent thoughts, a
plurality of child thoughts, a plurality of sibling thoughts, and a
plurality of jump thoughts.

Sibling thoughts (such as the thought "ParaGen" 322), are child thoughts of
any and all parent thoughts (such as the thought "Software" 312) of the
current central thought ("Natrificial" 310). For example, in the embodiment
illustrated in FIG. 3, above the central thought 310 are related parent
thoughts. In this plex there is only one, "Software" 312. Below the central
thought are child thoughts. In this plex there are three: "Projects" 314,
"Resources" 316, and "Information" 318. To the left of the central thought
are jump thoughts; in this plex there is only one: "Nomenclature" 320.
Finally, to the right of the central thought are sibling thoughts which
share a parent with the central thought. In this plex there is only
one--"ParaGen" 322. The underlying significance and semantics of these or
other categories of thought relationships is entirely unique to the
individual practitioner and user. In one embodiment, parent thoughts are
displayed in three columns extending upward from the central thought, jump
thoughts are displayed in a single column extending upward from the central
thought and to the left of the parents, and children are displayed in four
columns beneath the central thought and extending downward.

The display of sibling thoughts is not required for navigation through a
plex. For this reason, some embodiments of the present invention allow the
user to elect in the preferences not to display siblings. Such an election
may conserve display space, but will do so at the cost of displaying fewer
available thoughts.

One embodiment of the invention is configurable in the display preference
settings to display other more distantly related thoughts (collectively
"distant thoughts"), including grandparents, grandchildren, and partner
thoughts. Grandparent thoughts are the parents of the parents, and may be
displayed above the parents in two columns extending upward. Grandchildren
are the children of the children, and are displayed below the children in
four columns extending downward. Partners are the parents of the children,
and may be displayed to the left of the active thought and below the jumps.
If there are many partners or many jumps, the jumps may be shifted to
accommodate the partners. Graphical representations of distant thoughts may
be smaller than those for thoughts more directly related to the central
thought, and may not contain gates from which relationships may be
originated; these distant thoughts can be highlighted as the selection
cursor passes over them. One method for graphically representing a plex
having distant thoughts is outlined in FIG. 23. As this figure illustrates,
this process includes generating a list of thoughts to be drawn and their
respective screen locations, drawing connecting lines between these
thoughts, and then drawing the thoughts themselves. FIG. 25 is an
illustrative screen display having distant thoughts 2500A-N, as described
above.

Parent, child and jump thoughts are all equally related insofar as each is
directly linked to that central thought. The jump thought is unique in that
no thought related to a jump thought is displayed within the plex, unless
that thought is itself a parent, child, or sibling of the central thought.
Sibling thoughts are secondary relations, connected to the central thought
only indirectly through parent thoughts and children thoughts. The
distinctions amongst the types of thought relationships can be symbolized
within a single plex by displaying lines connecting the thoughts. Those
distinctions achieve added significance in the plexes resulting from a user
navigating the matrix, activating a different thought as the new central
thought. Preserving the distinctions amongst types of thought relationships
permits a data management structure which at once lends itself to easy,
logical navigation-like hierarchial structures and yet enjoys the
dimensionless and unlimited flexibility of a totally associative structure.

The differing relations among thoughts are reflected in the following
general rules, which define the collection of thoughts graphically
represented in a plex as well as the nature of this representation in some
embodiments of the present invention.

Depending upon the defined interrelations between the old central thought
and the newly selected central thought, the other thoughts in the old plex
may be included or excluded from the new plex. The old central thought,
however, will always remain in the new plex. Parent thoughts are related to
all of their child thoughts, and child thoughts are related to one another.
Therefore, when a child thought is selected, all the other children will
remain in the plex as siblings. Likewise, when a parent is selected, the
other children of the parent (i.e., some or all of the siblings of the
current central thought) will remain in the plex. Furthermore, sibling
thoughts are related to each other and their parents, so that when a sibling
is selected, all of its siblings (some or all of the siblings of the
original central thought) will remain in the plex as siblings.

Jump thought relationships link the jump thought with only the central
thought and no other thoughts; therefore, when a jump thought is selected,
typically only it and the current central thought will remain in the plex.
Non-contextual links such as those inserted into hypertext are effectively
the same as jump links, as they do not help to define relationships beyond
those that are directly linked. The availability of such non-contextual
links within, for example, hypertext documents, expands the breadth and
enhances the flexibility of the presently disclosed invention and therefore
increases its capacity to provide an optimally intuitive and adjustable
structure for organizing information.

Graphical Representation of Matrix. In one embodiment of the invention, each
thought in a plex has three circles near it. These circles are thought
"gates" (e.g., gates 330, 340, and 350 in FIG. 3), and are used to show and
create the relationships between thoughts. The location of each gate tells
what kind of relationship it represents. Thus, gate 330 above thought 310 is
for relationships to parent thoughts; gate 350 below thought 310 is for
relationships to child thoughts; and gate 340 on the side of thought 310 is
for relationships to jump thoughts. Note that each thought in the display of
FIG. 3 is connected to central thought 310 by the appropriate gate. Each
gate circle being used (i.e., a gate through which a thought is connected)
may be filled (e.g., gate 330); if no thought is connected through a gate,
that gate's circle is empty (e.g., gate 340). In addition, gates may be
color-coded according to the currently displayed thoughts. For example, in
one embodiment, if a gate is red (e.g., gate 350), this indicates that all
the thoughts to which it connects are currently displayed. If a gate is
green (e.g., gate 365), this indicates that there are other thoughts to
which it is connected and which are not displayed within the plex at this
time.

Display of the plex may be configured based upon the current thought. More
specifically, the display positions of thoughts are determined by the way
they are related and the number of thoughts that are related in that way.
Thus, in one embodiment, the central thought (e.g., 310) is always drawn in
the center. Above the central thought are the parent thoughts (e.g., 312),
which are drawn in up to two columns extending upward. Below the central
thought are the child thoughts (e.g., 314, 316, 318), which are drawn in up
to four columns extending downward. The jump thoughts appear to the left in
a single column which extends up and down until it hits the child thoughts,
at which point it begins to extend only upward. Sibling thoughts appear to
the right of the central thought in a single column which extends up and
down until it hits the child thoughts, at which point it begins to extend
only upward. In practice, the actual drawing sequence on screen may be
performed as follows. First the background is cleared. The scaling circle
and the lines that connect the thoughts are then drawn. Next, the lines are
drawn between the locations of the gates representing the appropriate
relationships. Finally, the actual thought names and the gates are drawn.

Occasionally a central thought will be linked to so many thoughts that it
will be impossible to simultaneously display all thoughts in a plex. In one
embodiment of the present invention, the Brain will display arrows above
and/or below thoughts with particular relations to thoughts that could not
be accommodated on the display. By clicking on or dragging these arrows, the
user may scroll through the entire list of thoughts. When second-level
thoughts are displayed, only those which are linked to the thoughts
displayed will be displayed.

Matrix Navigation. Navigation and movement through the matrix is
accomplished by selecting the thought to be moved to, using control device
160 or keyboard 150. In one embodiment, navigation is accomplished by
selecting a thought indicium with a cursor control device such as a mouse.
When a thought in the plex is selected to become the new central thought,
the plex is rearranged according to the links associated with the newly
selected central thought. In some embodiments, this process may be
graphically reflected with animation showing the movement of the thoughts.
For example, FIG. 4 shows the plex of FIG. 3, but rearranged after a user
has interactively selected Software 312 as the new central thought, in place
of Natrificial 310. Window 360 is used to display and edit the document for
the current thought, as discussed below in the section entitled "Processing
Thoughts."

One method of navig